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Government TV network becomes more aggressive
posted July 22, 2018 at 06:40 pm by Isah V. Red Today, Monday, you will start to notice changes in the government TV network’s quality of broadcasting. And you will see it in the coverage of the third State of the Nation Address, more popularly known as SONA, in the afternoon. As the lead network in the coverage, PTV 4, or People’s Television 4, will be able to showcase the upgrade it has done since the new dispensation took over in July 2016. The network has purchased and put in place high-definition and digital broadcast equipment to be at par with the commercial and private broadcast companies. That alone is what I am looking forward to see when I watch today’s SONA on the network. This year’s coverage will be under the helm of Joyce Bernal (I hope it doesn’t turn into a romcom or a comedy). According to Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar, PTV, shall increase its transmission power to 120,000 watts by first quarter of 2019 from the current 55,000 watts. PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar “The more power (watts), the more people can watch you. That way, we can keep pace with other TV networks in the Philippines,” he said in Filipino during the launch at Marquis in BGC recently. PTV 4 is already ranked fourth in the ratings game behind television giants ABS-CBN, GMA and IBC 13. The launch was attended by top PTV officers and advertisers looking forward to enagaging with the government broadcast station. Secretary Andanar also said PTV’s social media engagements have grown from 20,000 followers to 1.4 million around the world. Foremost in the retooled programming of the network is what constitutes its main menu: news. News programs will be airing from dawn till past dusk. “We’ll have morning shows, curriculum-based educational programs, newscast from morning, noontime, prime time till late night. We also have the newscast from Philippine News Agency (PNA) and programs that our President Rodrigo Duterte promised,” Andanar reiterated. These are Salaam Television for the Muslims and Lumad TV for the Lumads. PTV-4 President and General Manager Dino Antonio Apolonio said, “Most of the news and public affairs, public service and educational shows are in-house production of PTV. It is our strong suit, although we’ll still be conceptualizing more in the future.” Apart from those programs, the secretary said there will be block timers to enhance the variety of content. Viewers will also be able to watch foreign shows from Japan, China and the re-airing of certain Koreanovelas from South Korea. “We work with the entire Southeast Asian nations, also with other bigger countries,” Andanar said. PCOO’s Memorandum of Understanding includes Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, and Cambodia, then Thailand and Myanmar soon. “These programs (from other countries) are free. The Philippines will not spend a single penny for it.” He said these programs will help Filipinos learn about the culture of those countries, and get a glimpse of how they produce shows. What programs from PTV-4 will be sent to foreign countries, we asked. Apolonio said, “News. But mainly those locally produced documentaries here in the Philippines because it’s part of the cultural exchange. We are aiming for our neighboring countries to know more about our culture.” Since the network is taking a step forward, will they get prominent personalities to attract more audience? “People always prefer the content (of a program). And I also believe in the current personalities that we have like Jojo (Alejar), Dianne (Medina), Aljo Bendijo and Anthony Pangilinan,” Andanar added “President Duterte is always here to support PTV. He’s the biggest star,” Andanar explained. PTV is partly subsidized by the government. So, guys, PTV 4 is no longer just a government propaganda station, it is evolving into a broadcast entity perhaps in the mold of public broadcast systems in Japan and the United Kingdom. 'PTV's history' :The original broadcast of PTV-4 was started after the People Power Revolution on March 15, 1986. This is featuring some international programming and local programming produced by the government like Balita Ala-Una, Pangunahing Balita, News on 4, Womenwatch, Heartwatch, People's Privillege Hour, Ating Alamin, UN in Action, Coast to Coast, Tele-Aralan ng Kakayahan, Paco Park Presents, Damayan and PBA.